Getty Luis Suarez is still not fully match fit
Luis Suarez may have to get used to the bench as he’s not certain to start Barcelona’s next La Liga game against Leganes on Tuesday.
The Uruguay international underwent knee surgery in January but made his long-awaited return to action on Saturday when he came off the bench for the last 30 minutes of Barcelona’s 4-0 win at Real Mallorca.
Manager Quique Setien told a pre-match press conference that he has not yet decided if Suarez will start Barcelona’s next game at the Camp Nou.
“I haven’t decided yet on my line up. He’s one option. We’ll see. I have to talk to him. It’s true he can start but he could also start on the bench. We have to go carefully when one has suffered a lot of injuries it’s easy to get some physical problems. We need all the players ready and we have to go step by step.”
Martin Braithwaite is the most likely player to start if Suarez is left on the bench again. The Denmark international scored his first Barcelona goal on Saturday and will be hoping to keep his place in the starting XI.
Setien Happy to Have Suarez Back
Setien has had to cope without Suarez for almost his entire time as Barcelona boss. The striker went under the knife just before Setien replaced Ernesto Valverde as manager of the club at the start of the year.
Suarez’s injury looked to have ended his season prematurely, but he has worked hard to make it back out on to the pitch:
The three-month pause in competition due to the coronavirus pandemic has also worked in Suarez’s favor and means he will be able to feature in the run-in.
Setien spoke after Barcelona’s win over Real Mallorca about how impressed he was with the 33-year-old’s cameo.
“He was spectacular if we consider how long it has been since he’s played, I am sure we’re going to see more and more as the league progresses from him. We lacked control at times but the sensations were good, we did a lot well and we had chances to score more.”
Suarez Has Good Record vs Leganes
Leganes will not be relishing facing Suarez again as he has a good recent record against Los Pepineros. He was on target in a 2-1 win for Barcelona at Butarque earlier in the campaign and also netted last against Leganes last season.
His goal brought complaints from Leganes who felt the goal should have been disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper.
Leganes have struggled this season and are currently embroiled in a fight against relegation. They have also been poor away from home and have managed only one clean sheet on their travels in La Liga in 2019-20.
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